Home Racing World

Been in slot cars for 7 years and don't own any of these icons.
What would be a good pair of Fly cars to get that would represent the brand.

Money is an object.
Carrera and Scalextric cars make us smile.
The two of us "Race" most every night on a copper taped wood track.
Not apt to replace a bunch of parts, but normal tune up stuff is cool.
Got no problem running used :mrgreen:

Thanks for your advice!

Porsche 917 - Ferrari 512.

Thing is...on wood you will at least need tires.

If you ever need any help, just holler.

Don't forget the Lola T70! Probably the second best car they made. Those 917's are hard to beat for looks, but they run dead even with the Lolas.

i am confident that you will find the Chevrons are great little cars to drive. The Chrevrons will run very competitively with the Lolas, Porsches, and Ferraris.

First real Fly I had access to was a 512s. Before then I was thoroughly mystified by the fuss. Admittedly I don't run it, she's for photos only as it was a gift. But that thing is purdy.

Currently disassembling and stripping a Fly 250 GTO for the same friend. Stunning is the only suitable word. Just wow.

Years ago the Daughter and I bought a gulf 917 a yellow Lola, set them up with Harry's tuning mods. Solid axle, sleeved wheel hubs etc.
We had a ball with them, there was nothing between them (whichever car I had, she thrashed me).
They were the old sidewinders tho' . I'm not sure how the new versions go.
I've still got mine, I've run more laps with them and had more fun than just about any car I owned since. They still look good.

One of the many Porsche 908 variants and liveries would be a good choice. They are my best running Fly cars after my Joest Porsches ( the stripped down version)

I love the Chevrons so much I have every one of them. But they are not Fly, they are GB Track. Not a real difference, but it matters when you go to buy them.

Personally, if you want a car that can run very very well (two-very rating!) with little work, I would recommend the Porsche 911 GT1. It's a great car to ease yourself into Fly. I would disagree with the 917 recommendation. I do believe the 917 is a car "representative" of Fly but not in a good way. Just my experience. Others have different experiences as you have seen. Your mileage may vary.

Porsche 911 GT1

2Fer,

Fly made a lot of different models from different eras so a lot will depend on what class of cars you like.

Almost any of the Fly Classics are great if you are drawn to that era of racing (and who isn't?). I'd recommend a Ferrari 512 and a Porsche 908 or a Lola T70. The Porsche Carrera 6 and Chevrons are also good cars. As Harry mentioned you'll need to replace the stock tires. These cars are all sidewinders and can be made to run very well and very competitively with nothing more than a change of rear tires and some basic tuning. Our gang (the SCANCs) run these box stock with urethane tires. Urethane is great because it can be stretched over almost any diameter wheel, it can be trued easily, it grips well and it doesn't pick up dust and lose grip like silicone. If you already race with a group of guys then of course you'll want to go with whatever the group runs (you don't want to run silicone on a track that's been rubbered in with rubber/urethane).

For more modern cars (well, '80s anyway) the Porsche 935 and BMW M1 are good choices.

I like all Fly cars but the front-motored inline cars with long drive shafts are the most likely to be problematic. Still, that hasn't prevented me from filling my stable with C5R Corvettes and Vipers.

Steve

I agree with MG Brown. I just bought 5 new Fly cars.. and out of all of them my 906 is the best running dead stock one. fast and is even hard to unslot. the next would be my new 908LH flounder, almost as good as the 906. My 917 doesn't handle well even with all the prescribed mods (Tires, straight axle front, etc). ill have my chevron B19 in a few days to see how that one goes.

Personally I like both the long (Ferrari 512 Coda Lunga) and the short (Chevron, 908-3) of it.....
My Chevron is very quick and good handling with minimal modifications, and the Porsche Carrera 6 is also a quick little car.

I prefer the classics but have a Venturi and a Marcos from the old days too. You have to watch the auctions closely, the Flys are popular and often expensive although I normally see them around $40 each (but then you need to add tires).

One additional note, the stripped down Joest Porsches have been selling for as low as $20 online. And they are by far my fastest Fly slotcars. Or should I say quickest lap times.

Dang that's a good deal. I didn't know there were any decent cars out there for that money, let alone these cars.

I haven't been bothering with the used cars for sale for a long time, because they frequently cost what they cost new with wear and no improvements. I used to buy all the time, but when they didn't save any money I lost interest.

MY favourite Fly cars - in terms of running - the Porsche 908 and BMW M1 go well, the Lola T70 is nice but I replaced the back end on all of mine. The 917k are ok - I have a little Renault rally car which goes well - Probably if I have to choose I would go the M1 just over the 908 - you will need a tyre change which ever way you go and there is a good chance the pinion will be split.

DM